Dave is the Director and Curator of the Empire Area Historical Museum Complex. He has been working on this gem of a museum for a couple decades. He was born and raised in Empire, and he has known many of the founders of our town, and their off-spring. The museum chronicles Empire’s early years and some of the history of the surrounding area.
The museum collection was started before he came on board. There was a collection of artifacts put together by some women of the community, and housed in the basement of a local church. In his role as director, Dave raised funds for the museum’s current building (a very large grant); he presided over the move of two of the complex’s buildings, the old pump house (from it’s original location in downtown Empire), and an old school house (which he and his co-developer Jo Bolton) found by driving around the county and going into whatever they found (and being kicked out of more than one – it takes some fortitude to do something like that (browse old school houses as they dot the landscape, looking for a deal), and he acquired the Billy Beeman Barn, when his friend Billy Beeman passed away The barn provided space for several large displays.
Dave is in a unique position to be the director and curator of the museum. He grew up in Empire, in a house right on Front Street, the main street that runs through the commercial district. He personally knew several of the founders of the town and grew up hearing all the stories about the early days. He is reported to be the person who found the Roan Brothers in their house, after they had passed away (there’s an interesting mystery about how they died and where all their money went. The obviously must have had a good deal of money, as the salon owners in town, where you can imagine many of the loggers spent their paychecks. Dave even purchased the original beautiful dark hardwood bar from their saloon. It is now in a display in the museum..It takes visitors right back in time to the old days of loggers and saloons and daily life.
In fact, this is one of the major joys of the museum: The displays are so good that visitors can put themselves back in time to the days represented in the displays.
Just by walking through the museum, you can see Dave’s intention and expertise in arranging artifacts in such a way that visitors can put themselves back into the time, 150 years ago, of Empire’s founding and heyday. The actual huge solid wood bar from Roan’s Saloon, along with a Victrola that plays, and a player piano with a piano player sitting at it, dressed in a typical old-time piano player costume. There is also a replica of the gas station/repair shop that Dave and his family ran for years, with an old-time gas pump that takes me back to the early days of my driving, and of 50 cent gasoline.
The first display that Dave made for the museum is a scale model replica of the old saw mill down on our Lake Michigan shore. It is very detailed – I can look at it for hours and never be overly amazed at the care and love that went into such a project.
The research that went into this replica is a great example of Dave, the true historian. Here’s another example. Empire used to have fairs in the summer. The trains that
brought in the sawn trees to be milled into hardwood planks or other bilding materials, also brough in the tourists to the Fair. There was an unfortunate and tragic accident that put an end to the fairs in Empire: They had hired a woman dare-devil to parachute out of a plane (this was in the early 1900’s. But her chute malfunctioned and she perished in Lake Michigan. To find more details of this tragedy, Dave searched for anyone who was there at that time. Finding no one to interview, he found an old diary of a young girl who was at the fair and wrote about the accident. So he could pinpoint the date (from her dated diary pages, and also learned that her body was eventually found (although many search parties couldn’t find her) when it was washed up under one of the lumber mill docks. The old mill is here in spirit – there are still pilings in the lake where the docks were, and there is still a huge concrete abutment just back from the parking lot, that anchored the huge 6-blade gang saw that made quick work of many logs. There are also still pilings in South Bar Lake where the train ran across the lake to deliver logs to the mill. And (of all things) Dave has the old whistle from the saw mill, which he’ll blow on certain occasions. Between seeing these remnants and studying Dave’s saw mill scale model, I can easily imagine myself being there.
Given that trains were an integral part of the growth of Empire, Dave is very interested in finding and mapping the old train grades (he even took us on a bus tour of the old train grades, which is interesting to people who know this area. As part of his research, he has donned his mud boots and walked back into the woods, following what’s left of an old grade, to see where it comes out near South Bar Lake. Or to find the old Empire Junction.
Dave the historian has combined field research with primary source document research to flesh out the exhibits. He has made several excellent videos using old photographs, to show up what it was like back then. I personally never thought I was interested in this kind of history, until I started looking closely at his exhibits. Susan Pocklington’s romantic vision of visitors enjoying the old farm houses and barns in the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore by “respectfully and courteously strolling the properties (or displays, in the case of the museum), peeking in windows, sitting on the front porch – moved to contemplation, imagination, and meditation. The museum has a nice bench in its back yard that is always open gazing at the old school house and being meditative.
Dave’s personality is perfectly suited for this job as director and curator and developer of the museum. He is naturally thoughtful – a scholar, and he is an excellent teacher, which is evident in the many DVD’s that he has put together to tell various stories of our past. I personally love listening to them, and as well as to his off-the-cuff stories. As a scholar, he is so familiar with our past, that he has a good notion about our future. Plus his scholarship has put together several books about our past, illustrated with wondereful old photos. The books are available in the museum, and the DVDs are playing in the museum, plus he gets the town together for showings of new DVDs and wonderful stories from his memories and whatever other sources he has.
I’ve thought about this a lot since moving to Empire: Why is history important? Why is preserving historic homes and barns important? Why is displaying artifacts from days long gone important? I really love our historic museum and the Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear displays. I got a lot of “how the pioneers lived” growing up in Illinois and as my kids grew up in Michigan, so that’s not a big thing to me. But seeing where the old lumber mill was in our town, knowing where the train went as the forests were cut and made into hardwood floors for people’s homes. Those things ground me in my town. It’s not my personal or family history, but I can feel the old folks working here, feel their spirits, and I think that there was a “spirit” of life in Empire in the old days, and there is still a spirit of life here, embedded as it must be with moderninity. I started this project in order to find out more about why Dave Taghon and Susan Pocklington do what they do, what attracted them to their work, and what joy they found in it, and why it’s important to them, hoping I would learn why it’s important to me. Now I know. My other interviewees, Kathy and Becky/Jim, are interesting to me because, as with Dave and Susan, a lot of work has gone into what they do (and continues to go into it), and more than that, they all have a passion for their work. Passion can be contagious (I was hoping) and sure enough, I have been inflicted with it (right now, with a drive to write about them, and a passion to enjoy my little town of Empire. I would not have had an opportunity to interview them and write about them if I weren’t retired (bless our country for letting us retire at a time when we can still enjoy life.
We all do big things in our lives. Holding down a demanding job for 10 or 15 or 20 years takes a great deal of hard work, stamina, and patience. Serving in the military in a war zone is a big accomplishment. Staying married and raising a family is a big accomplishment, always full of challenges. Finishing a college degree is tough work. Many people find a job that becomes a big accomplishment – being able to listen to clients and customers in order to give them what need, learning how to be a team player, turning your job into something that makes a contribution and is satisfying to you – is not easy. I think that’s the biggest accomplishment that many “regular” people do in their lives.
Even seeing a bigger picture than our everyday experience is an accomplishment.
What does it take to do big things? , The people I talked to hsve said it takes purpose, passion, and help from some friends.As you think about your own life, first you need to identify and celebrate you “big accomplishments.” Then ask the question.
Dave is the Director and Curator of the Empire Area Historical Museum Complex. He has been working on this gem of a museum for a couple decades. He was born and raised in Empire, and he has known many of the founders of our town, and their off-spring. The museum chronicles Empire’s early years and some of the history of the surrounding area.
The museum collection was started before he came on board. There was a collection of artifacts put together by some women of the community, and housed in the basement of a local church. In his role as director, Dave raised funds for the museum’s current building (a very large grant); he presided over the move of two of the complex’s buildings, the old pump house (from it’s original location in downtown Empire), and an old school house (which he and his co-developer Jo Bolton) found by driving around the county and going into whatever they found (and being kicked out of more than one – it takes some fortitude to do something like that (browse old school houses as they dot the landscape, looking for a deal), and he acquired the Billy Beeman Barn, when his friend Billy Beeman passed away The barn provided space for several large displays.
Empire Area Museum Complex website
Dave is in a unique position to be the director and curator of the museum. He grew up in Empire, in a house right on Front Street, the main street that runs through the commercial district. He personally knew several of the founders of the town and grew up hearing all the stories about the early days. He is reported to be the person who found the Roan Brothers in their house, after they had passed away (there’s an interesting mystery about how they died and where all their money went. The obviously must have had a good deal of money, as the salon owners in town, where you can imagine many of the loggers spent their paychecks. Dave even purchased the original beautiful dark hardwood bar from their saloon. It is now in a display in the museum..It takes visitors right back in time to the old days of loggers and saloons and daily life.
In fact, this is one of the major joys of the museum: The displays are so good that visitors can put themselves back in time to the days represented in the displays.
Just by walking through the museum, you can see Dave’s intention and expertise in arranging artifacts in such a way that visitors can put themselves back into the time, 150 years ago, of Empire’s founding and heyday. The actual huge solid wood bar from Roan’s Saloon, along with a Victrola that plays, and a player piano with a piano player sitting at it, dressed in a typical old-time piano player costume. There is also a replica of the gas station/repair shop that Dave and his family ran for years, with an old-time gas pump that takes me back to the early days of my driving, and of 50 cent gasoline.
The first display that Dave made for the museum is a scale model replica of the old saw mill down on our Lake Michigan shore. It is very detailed – I can look at it for hours and never be overly amazed at the care and love that went into such a project.
The research that went into this replica is a great example of Dave, the true historian. Here’s another example. Empire used to have fairs in the summer. The trains that
brought in the sawn trees to be milled into hardwood planks or other bilding materials, also brough in the tourists to the Fair. There was an unfortunate and tragic accident that put an end to the fairs in Empire: They had hired a woman dare-devil to parachute out of a plane (this was in the early 1900’s. But her chute malfunctioned and she perished in Lake Michigan. To find more details of this tragedy, Dave searched for anyone who was there at that time. Finding no one to interview, he found an old diary of a young girl who was at the fair and wrote about the accident. So he could pinpoint the date (from her dated diary pages, and also learned that her body was eventually found (although many search parties couldn’t find her) when it was washed up under one of the lumber mill docks. The old mill is here in spirit – there are still pilings in the lake where the docks were, and there is still a huge concrete abutment just back from the parking lot, that anchored the huge 6-blade gang saw that made quick work of many logs. There are also still pilings in South Bar Lake where the train ran across the lake to deliver logs to the mill. And (of all things) Dave has the old whistle from the saw mill, which he’ll blow on certain occasions. Between seeing these remnants and studying Dave’s saw mill scale model, I can easily imagine myself being there.
Given that trains were an integral part of the growth of Empire, Dave is very interested in finding and mapping the old train grades (he even took us on a bus tour of the old train grades, which is interesting to people who know this area. As part of his research, he has donned his mud boots and walked back into the woods, following what’s left of an old grade, to see where it comes out near South Bar Lake. Or to find the old Empire Junction.
Dave the historian has combined field research with primary source document research to flesh out the exhibits. He has made several excellent videos using old photographs, to show up what it was like back then. I personally never thought I was interested in this kind of history, until I started looking closely at his exhibits. Susan Pocklington’s romantic vision of visitors enjoying the old farm houses and barns in the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore by “respectfully and courteously strolling the properties (or displays, in the case of the museum), peeking in windows, sitting on the front porch – moved to contemplation, imagination, and meditation. The museum has a nice bench in its back yard that is always open gazing at the old school house and being meditative.
Dave’s personality is perfectly suited for this job as director and curator and developer of the museum. He is naturally thoughtful – a scholar, and he is an excellent teacher, which is evident in the many DVD’s that he has put together to tell various stories of our past. I personally love listening to them, and as well as to his off-the-cuff stories. As a scholar, he is so familiar with our past, that he has a good notion about our future. Plus his scholarship has put together several books about our past, illustrated with wondereful old photos. The books are available in the museum, and the DVDs are playing in the museum, plus he gets the town together for showings of new DVDs and wonderful stories from his memories and whatever other sources he has.
I’ve thought about this a lot since moving to Empire: Why is history important? Why is preserving historic homes and barns important? Why is displaying artifacts from days long gone important? I really love our historic museum and the Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear displays. I got a lot of “how the pioneers lived” growing up in Illinois and as my kids grew up in Michigan, so that’s not a big thing to me. But seeing where the old lumber mill was in our town, knowing where the train went as the forests were cut and made into hardwood floors for people’s homes. Those things ground me in my town. It’s not my personal or family history, but I can feel the old folks working here, feel their spirits, and I think that there was a “spirit” of life in Empire in the old days, and there is still a spirit of life here, embedded as it must be with moderninity. I started this project in order to find out more about why Dave Taghon and Susan Pocklington do what they do, what attracted them to their work, and what joy they found in it, and why it’s important to them, hoping I would learn why it’s important to me. Now I know. My other interviewees, Kathy and Becky/Jim, are interesting to me because, as with Dave and Susan, a lot of work has gone into what they do (and continues to go into it), and more than that, they all have a passion for their work. Passion can be contagious (I was hoping) and sure enough, I have been inflicted with it (right now, with a drive to write about them, and a passion to enjoy my little town of Empire. I would not have had an opportunity to interview them and write about them if I weren’t retired (bless our country for letting us retire at a time when we can still enjoy life.
We all do big things in our lives. Holding down a demanding job for 10 or 15 or 20 years takes a great deal of hard work, stamina, and patience. Serving in the military in a war zone is a big accomplishment. Staying married and raising a family is a big accomplishment, always full of challenges. Finishing a college degree is tough work. Many people find a job that becomes a big accomplishment – being able to listen to clients and customers in order to give them what need, learning how to be a team player, turning your job into something that makes a contribution and is satisfying to you – is not easy. I think that’s the biggest accomplishment that many “regular” people do in their lives.
Even seeing a bigger picture than our everyday experience is an accomplishment.
What does it take to do big things? , The people I talked to hsve said it takes purpose, passion, and help from some friends.As you think about your own life, first you need to identify and celebrate you “big accomplishments.” Then ask the question.